Outdoor Indiana - March/April 2009 - News & Views

Features

Lincoln artifacts find home in Indiana ...

In a ceremony at the Indiana State Museum, Gov. Mitch Daniels announced that the Lincoln Financial Foundation will donate its collection of Abraham Lincoln artifacts and documents to the State of Indiana.

The collection, valued at more than $20 million, is the world’s largest private set of memorabilia from Abraham Lincoln’s personal and presidential life. The treasures will be housed at the Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis and the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne.

Among the more than 20,000 items are signed copies of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment. Also included are Lincoln’s wallet and a chair he sat in for some of his most famous photographs, as well as artwork, thousands of documents, photographs, prints and rare books.

The collection will join the State Museum’s holdings of more than 500,000 artifacts and natural history specimens and will benefit from the museum’s extensive experience in exhibition development, public programming and collections care.

In 2010, the State Museum will debut a Library of Congress exhibition of rare Lincoln artifacts in connection with the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth. That exhibit will be enhanced with several unique items from the Lincoln Financial Foundation collection.

(Above) Gov. Daniels chats with children at the State Museum.

Unwelcome visitors invade national forest ...

Emerald ash borer (EAB), an exotic pest from Asia that attacks ash trees, has been detected in Hoosier National Forest in Monroe County. DNR entomologists discovered the pest in the Hardin Ridge Recreation Area in Polk Township. The DNR, with assistance from the U.S. Forest Service, will conduct additional surveys around the site to determine the extent of the infestation.

Quarantine procedures have been implemented in the county to help manage the spread of this pest. The quarantine regulates the movement of ash products, including ash nursery trees, ash logs and all types of hardwood firewood. Under the quarantine, it is illegal to transport these items out of Polk Township without a compliance agreement provided by the DNR.

This infestation was detected through the joint DNR/U.S. Department of Agriculture survey. Although the survey used purple panel traps, this site was detected in a girdled ash trap tree.

For more information on EAB, or to report an infestation, call the DNR’s toll-free hotline at 1-866-NO EXOTIC (663-9684). To view the EAB rule and EAB quarantine declaration visit: dnr.IN.gov/entomolo.

(Above) An adult EAB is 3/8 to 5/8 of an inch long, nowhere near the size of this magnified image.

Time for turkeys and trout ...

Prepare your fishing rods and shotguns. Spring is time for turkeys and trout. Opening day of trout season for inland streams is April 25, at 6 a.m. Spring turkey season opens April 22, and runs until May 10.

The daily bag limit for all trout species in inland streams is five, singly or in aggregate, with a minimum size limit of 7 inches. Check the 2009 Indiana Fishing Guide, at dnr.IN.gov, for additional rules and information before fishing.

For turkeys the bag limit is one (male or bearded) for the entire spring season. Beware that bag limits and turkey licenses do not carry over to the fall season.

To hunt turkey, you need either a comprehensive lifetime hunting/fishing license or a comprehensive lifetime hunting license or a youth license or an apprentice youth license. If you don't have one of those, in order to hunt turkey, you need a turkey license and a game bird habitat stamp.

It’s legal to hunt from the ground or from an elevated stand; turkeys can be called with a mouth call or hand-operated call.

Artificial turkey decoys are legal, but it’s illegal to use dogs, live decoys, electronically powered or controlled decoys or recorded calls to hunt turkeys. And of course, it’s illegal to hunt turkeys over bait.

The often ground-oriented, call-and-move nature of turkey hunting requires caution. As in all shooting situations, hunters need to positively identify their targets before shooting.

For more information on laws and places to hunt, check the 2008-2009 Indiana Hunting and Trapping Guide. Or view it online at dnr.IN.gov.

Gene Stratton-Porter ...

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Hoosier author Gene Stratton-Porter’s novel, “A Girl of the Limberlost,” Indiana State Historic Sites is holding Go Green With Gene Week from April 24, to May 2. Focusing on the development of a swamp near Porter’s home, “Limberlost” is widely considered an early work of environmentalism.

The week is geared toward nature education and environmental awareness. Activities include hiking, nature photography, stories about Stratton-Porter’s life and more. Attendees will have the opportunity to make art out of recycled materials and explore the Limberlost Swamp with a naturalist.

Events will be held throughout the week at the Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site in Rome City; the Limberlost State Historic Site in Geneva; and at the Loblolly Nature Preserve outside Bryant. “Gene” week also includes activities specifically for school groups.